[Sonographic imaging of meniscus lesions. An experimental study]

There is still no general agreement on the value of ultrasonographic visualization of pathologic changes in the knee menisci. Some examiners report on large patient collectives in which it has yielded accurate diagnoses in 90% of cases. Other authors describe much higher failure rates and unreliable imaging of meniscal lesions. The aim of this experimental study was to determine how reliable the imaging of such lesions is, which of the different types can be recognized, and what their ultrasonic morphological characteristics are. To this end, the examinations were performed on isolated menisci in a waterbath to avoid artefacts that might be caused by the tissues surrounding the meniscus in situ. It was shown that all types of lesion except the transverse rupture could be visualized and localized reliably. The different types of meniscal injuries all produce the same sort of appearance on the screen: a hard, glaring reflection of sound waves. The necessity of using a 7.5-MHz sector, or curved-array transducer for the examination is emphasized.